Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and VCARB endured a ‘tough’ Friday at Spa, and things could get tougher

VCARB might be facing an uphill climb at the Belgian Grand Prix

Visa Cash App RB F1 Team saw their Belgian Grand Prix get off to a “tough” start during Friday’s two practice sessions.

And with rain in the forecast, and Yuki Tsunoda facing a massive grid penalty in the Grand Prix itself, things could get even tougher over the weekend.

In Friday’s first practice session, Daniel Ricciardo posted the 13th-fastest session, while Tsunoda was a bit further back in the field, with the 16th-fastest time. FP2 brought even more struggles, as Ricciardo finished in P14, and Tsunoda down in P20.

While Ricciardo noted some of the positives from the session, he acknowledged the challenges ahead of VCARB in the team’s post-practice media report.

“It was nice to drive here today in dry conditions; they resurfaced part of the track, and a lot of corners have more grip which feels good,” said Ricciardo. “Today was a proper test day for us, we tried a lot of things, and I was happier in FP2 compared to this morning. We still need to find a few more tenths for tomorrow but it may rain, and if quali is the only wet session, we won’t have much time to figure it out and find the grip. This will be a challenge for all of us. Sunday looks dry though, so at least we are comfortable, given what we learned today.”

With Tsunoda facing a start at the back of the grid, Friday was all about learning.

“We tried a few things today and know some areas we want to look at and improve tomorrow. I have a grid penalty on Sunday for taking new power unit elements, so it’ll be about maximising as much as possible this weekend,” said Tsunoda. “The track has a new surface in places which is nice and smooth, and I was able to find more grip. It’s a nice modification and we have a good opportunity to learn more tomorrow and find the most optimum set up. Usually, we perform quite well in the rain, and with the conditions looking mixed this weekend it throws another element into the mix.”

With VCARB installing an entirely new power unit on Tsunoda’s RB01 — and all six components exceeding the allotment under the rules for a single season, carrying a ten-place grid drop as a result — Tsunoda is facing a technical 60-place grid penalty. That means no matter how his qualifying session goes on Saturday, he will be at the back of the grid on Sunday.

VCARB Racing Director Alan Permane summed up the day this way:

A tough day on our side, we have Yuki starting from the back of the grid on Sunday due to his PU penalty, so he’s been focusing a little bit more on race preparation,” said Permane. “We’ve got some work to do to find some more rear grip, so we’ll be working in the simulator overnight with several set-up items to test out, with a view to trying those on the car in FP3. On a positive note, Daniel’s long run pace was not only quick, but had very low degradation. We have much more confidence in our long run pace than our short run pace and we’ll be aiming to improve that for tomorrow.”